2014
This year ended up being the year of unexpected change for me and a much better year than the one before.
In February, I went to the Waste Management Open which was even bigger than the year before. Having Greenskeeper passes on the 17th hole with bottomless mimosas was a blast.
For Valentines Day, Aaron and I headed to San Diego for a weekend at the beach and hit the perfect weather for a long bike ride from our hotel.
We had brunch in La Jolla by the cove. Of course we took the pups with us, and a day in Ocean Beach at the dog beach was definitely in order, followed by baths and a smelly car!
I checked out Coronado Island for the first time and loved it! What a cool place to live.
The next couple months were spent at home, working through the busiest time of the year in staffing and enjoying the Arizona winter to the fullest.
Mike and his friend came to visit from 29 Palms, California where he was stationed. I took them out walking in Arcadia to a trendy breakfast spot called The Vig and gave them their first bottomless mimosa experience. I have never seen two grown men drink champagne so fast.
A little cousin lovin'
Flagstaff Weekend:
With the weather getting hotter in Phoenix, it was time to get away again so Aaron and I headed up to Flagstaff and Jerome for a weekend. It was snowing in Flagstaff in late April but it was nice enough to wear shorts and hour and a half away in Jerome.
Jerome was a really cool old mining town with a lot of history. Jerome made news in 1917, when strikes involving the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) led to the expulsion at gunpoint of about 60 IWW members, who were loaded on a cattle car and shipped west. Production at the mines, always subject to fluctuations for various reasons, boomed during World War I, fell thereafter, rose again, then fell again during and after the Great Depression. As the ore deposits became exhausted, the mines closed, and the population dwindled to fewer than 100 by the mid-1950s. Efforts to save the town from oblivion succeeded when residents turned to tourism and retail sales. Jerome became a National Historic Landmark in 1967. In the early 21st century, Jerome has art galleries, coffee houses, restaurants, wineries, and a state park and local museum devoted to mining history.
The old mine is still there and you can look down into it. The guy who ran the Little Daisy Mine also had a house that overlooked it and the house is still in tact and is now a museum that we walked through.
Jerome is also known for it's wineries throughout the area.
Blast from the Past:
One of my favorite things in the world to do is look at old pictures, so in May, for Mother's Day, I loved seeing some pictures my uncle had put on Facebook as a tribute to my Grandma on Facebook for everyone to see. Although I never really got to know her very well, Grandma, or Grandpa "Chief", the stories I hear from the rest the family tell the story as though they were still around today. They affected the lives of many and it's neat to see the lives they once lived through the pictures they left behind.
This is my favorite picture of my dad and his two brothers. Barry, dad and Chip are still easy to recognize!
May's Big Move
Remember how I said this was the year of change? Well, this is where the change kicks in. In May, I left my job at MGA Employee Services. Aaron accepted a job on the East Coast unexpectedly and I wasn't ready to move with him. A week later, I accepted an opportunity in Denver, and a few days later Dad flew out to help me pack up my life. It was a decision made with a heavy heart and a lot of red wine. It was not easy to leave behind the friends that had come to be family and the desert that somehow found a way to melt my heart. After 5 years, it was officially time to say "Sayonara Phoenix."
I decided to move back to Colorado for a position with a company in downtown Denver called Fahrenheit IT. Instead of working in the telecom world I was used to, I would be working in IT and networking. The company helped move me and the quick witted, energetic British guy who manages the office was very persuasive.
Dad flew out and turned into the packing Nazi. Within a few days my condo was cleaned out and everything moved into the back of a giant budget truck. Dad took Ellie with him for the most part of the drive and followed me and London. Good thing the dogs love the vacation life. In fact, they have been from the East Coast to the West Coast to the Coast of Mexico and everywhere in between. They are more well traveled than most people.
My first week back in Colorado was the heart of tornado season and the Writer Square building I work in got evacuated. It rained all summer and was much wetter than it had been for the last several years.
Working in Downtown Denver was a different transition but kind of fun. Turns out Tiff worked in the building right next door which makes it convenient to have lunch together all the time.
My boss Tom is British, so needless to say we went all out this year for the World Cup in the office. The offices competed across the country for the best costumes and decorations.
A few weeks after I started Tom decided to boost morale in the office and get us out together for a Friday afternoon of paintball. It was my first time and I have always wanted to try it...it was a blast. But, when people say it really hurts, they aren't kidding. My painful welts lasted over a week and some of them grew to the size of a baseball.
Oh...You Fancy, Huh?
In continuing with the year of change, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get a new car. My Honda Pilot had seen me through 7 years of road trips, gotten me back and forth from one end of the country to the other and everything in between but it was finally starting to see it's wear. I decided to splurge like I never do and get something really nice. I went with a BMW X5 Sport and I love it! I can't say I enjoy having car payments for the first time in my life though...
For 4th of July 2014 I was thrilled to have Nikol in town. Her first night we headed to Film On The Rocks at Red Rocks and saw The Fast and the Furious. We pre-gamed in the parking lot with boxed wine. My buddy John Slota from college was nice enough to grab the tickets and invite us up.
We celebrated Dad's 61st Birthday at the Texas Roadhouse. No one can ever believe he's as old as he is. It was nice to be home to celebrate with him for a change.
We spent 4th of July downtown with Tiffany.
Right after Nikol left, something awesome happened when my friend Dan, one of my oldest friends that I have always kept in touch with and traveled to Boston with the year before gave me a call to tell me he was moving to Denver with his roommate. They stayed in my place for a month while they transitioned. So fun to be living in the same city after all these years. The dogs were thrilled to have them around while I was at work.
And, after hours, when Dan and his roommate would be out exploring the town, Ellie would take the time to do yoga with me.
Ellie and her doga...
Somewhere towards the end of my first Month at Fahrenheit IT I made my first deal and when having the usual office beers on Friday, we celebrated a little more.
In July, Tiff, Steven, his brother and I headed up to Mt. Shavano to go camping. It rained a little it but the trip was a huge success! Of course Tiff and I brought our staple cheap wine for the drive up...
The next weekend Dallas, Jacinda and the kids came into town to celebrate Abeline's 7th birthday and my grandpa's 85th.
Happy Birthday Grandpa! Cheers to many more to come!
